2010 Sierra Wt With Punctured Condensor

[gravitywell]

I went on a road trip last weekend, had the windows cracked most of the way, I rarely use my AC. Somewhere along the way, it started drizzling and I closed the windows, and -attempted- to turn the ac on. I pushed the fancy snowflake button and the orange indicator light just flashed at me and went off. I tried again with the same result. I cracked the windows again, and did my best not to suffocate or drown.

 

I did a few searches in free time on my phone and came up with a few potential results, of which included outside temperature sensors not allowing me to turn on AC, and empty freon.

 

I got the truck to the dealer today, since I have 16k on it and she's still very much under warranty. After an hour, they came and got me, took me into the shop and showed me that the condenser behind the grille had been punctured by something. It was a small mark, probably the size of a BB or smaller. The technician explained that he tried to put Freon in it twice and both times it hissed and leaked out almost instantly through the hole.

 

They need almost $900 to fix it, because it was a road hazard and not something faulty with the truck.

 

I spoke to the technician about the truck and the design of the very open very unprotecting front grille, and asked his opinion. He couldn't say much, and I understand, but the fact that I can fit my forearm through the grille is a bit neglectful when a fragile condenser can be punctured by a rock and the grille is open enough to fit an arm or golf ball through.

 

So, I called GMC Customer Support, spoke to a kind woman named Iys (Pronounced Ice) and she put me on hold for a while after hearing my concerns about a design flaw that lead to the allowance of a rock to penetrate and ruin my condenser. After returning, she came explained that it was still considered a road hazard issue, but was pursuing the incident with the dealer to see if they would assist or possibly honor the warranty anyway.

 

So now, I'm waiting until potentially Monday evening for a response from GMC to see if they can help with this.

 

Does anyone else have a suggestion? I'm certainly looking at a new grille after this entire incident, but I don't have AC in my barely 1yr old truck, and in my opinion, wouldn't have happened in the first place if the grille weren't open as it is.

[AirForceAngler]

Contact your insurance if it was a road hazard issue. Your deductible may be cheaper than the repair.

[mhenshaw]

That sucks that it happened and I can see your pain. I would fix it myself, get the condensor off ebay and pay someone to recharge the system.

 

If you are unhappy with the grille buy a billet grille or get a denali grille.

 

As far as the grille being very open on the GMC is like saying the headlights are too big and get hit by too many rocks. Its the design of the truck and I can say a 1000 design features that don't protect my truck. My main design problem is the fenders don't flare around the tires and I get lots of rock chips.

[pm26]

The same thing happened on my brother's 1998 Nissan Maxima when the car was only about a year old. A rock or something hit the A/C condenser and punctured it, causing the refrigerant to leak out. There is a pressure switch in the system which will not let the A/C compressor turn on if there is no refrigerant (and consequently low pressure) in the system. I ended up buying a new condenser from a Nissan dealer online, along with the receiver/dryer. The whole repair cost about $ 500, which was exactly the insurance deductible. However, if you have a comprehensive coverage with zero deductible, they may cover it.

[Doug_Scott]

hang a screen behind the grille if you want to protect it, but you have to make sure it does not get plugged with debris because that will reduce air flow through the condenser, causing your a/c to stop working. My 08 G5 had a punctured condensor that I noticed the same week I got the car, it was fixed under warranty though. That car had a very small grille opening, still got punctured, neighbour had a 08 G6 that also had a punctured condenser, and an even smaller grille opening.